Terminally ill Polish mother living in Ireland tries to raise $32,500 to die at home in peace

Marta Salacka fighting for her life and trying to get home to Poland to dieGoogle images

A terminally ill Polish woman living in Ireland is trying to raise $26,000 so she can die at home, in peace, with her family around her.

Marta Salacka told the Irish Sun she may have just weeks to live. The mother-of-one, living in Limerick, is suffering from terminal leukemia. Last week Salacka had the harrowing news that her cancer had spread.

Due to her medical condition she cannot fly on routine flights. Her friends in Limerick are looking into possible means of transport. One option was a 40-hour ambulance journey across Europe however her husband, Mariusz, would not be allowed to join her. They have ruled this option out.

In just three days of online fundraising they raised $6,500, with donations coming from 140 people. Some donated as much as $325.

Her friends, helping with the fundraising, said people’s “generosity of people already in this heartbreaking time has been overwhelming”.

A friend said “She’s just an ordinary girl who was starting out on her life. She’s only 27.

“She was trying to make a home here in Ireland and built a life for herself and her family here. This could happen to anyone.”

In March, Salacka, from Gorzów Wielkopolski, was diagnosed with two forms of leukemia, cancer of the blood.

A family friend said “They said there’s nothing else they can do for her.”

Having been given this diagnosis Salacka started a blog called “The Snow Princess”. In the blog, written in Polish, she wrote “My name is Marta. I am a 27-year-old wife of the most wonderful guy under the sun and mother of the cutest four-year-old boy.

“We live six years in Ireland, in a beautiful house with a garden. Mariusz — my husband has a steady job. What more could you want from life? It may seem everything is so beautiful.”

She explains that now all she wants to do is go home to her parents.

“I am trying not to cry, but when I look at my family, my heart is breaking. I don’t know how to say to them what I feel. We can pray for miracle and please pray.”

Mariusz her husband has quit his job to be her full time carer. However he must wait 14 weeks for his carers allowance to be processed by the State.